We’ve tested a handful of vans here at gowherebuyvan now. But have you ever wondered which are the LCVs with the lowest overall running costs? Wonder no more – we have compiled a list of the top five!
For the purposes of this article, we’ll use current fuel and electricity prices to calculate the overall cost per kilometre. At the time of publishing, the cheapest RON 95 is at $2.27 per litre after credit card discounts. Diesel goes for $2.13 per litre, and electricity is around $0.65 per kWh.
With that out of the way, here’s the list of five!
5. Opel Vivaro-e ($0.15 per kilometre)
By far the largest van in our list. The Vivaro-e is surprisingly efficient given its size. It comes equipped with a 75 kWh battery pack, and a front-mounted electric motor that is good for 134 bhp. Opel estimates a range of 330 kilometres, whilst we didn’t quite match it, we still managed to return a respectable high-200s on a single charge.
4. Suzuki Every Turbo ($0.14 per kilometre)
The first of two ICE vehicles in our list, and the only petrol-powered vehicle here. Powering this adorable kei van is a 658cc turbocharged three cylinder engine, that chucks out a whopping 63 bhp. If you want even greater efficiency, there’s a naturally aspirated variant, but it only comes with 48 bhp, and would thus struggle with load onboard.
3. BYD T3 ($0.12 per kilometre)
Coming in at number three is China’s BYD T3. Heavily based on the Nissan NV200, a number of cosmetic changes have been made to truly make this product unique to the Chinese automaker. All the oily gubbins have been swapped out for a 134 bhp electric motor and a 44.9 kWh battery that BYD claims is good for a total range of about 280 kilometres. We achieved a projected 250 kilometres.
2. Opel Combo-e ($0.11 per kilometre)
The Combo-e is the second Opel on our list. It packs the same electric motor as its Vivaro-e cousin, but comes fitted with a smaller, 50 kWh battery pack. Opel believes the van is good for an efficiency rating of about 5.58 km/kWh, and a total range of 293 kilometres. We achieved around 6 km/kwh, for a total projected range close to the claimed WLTP range.
1. Volkswagen Caddy ($0.10 per kilometre)
Bet you weren’t expecting a Diesel van to come out on top eh? Volkswagen’s new Caddy is surprisingly efficient, and its low running costs can also be attributed to the lower price of Diesel fuel. The German automaker quotes an efficiency figure of about 22 km/l, though we only managed about 17 km/l.
But Wait, There’s More
Of course, there are ways to further reduce the running costs of your commercial vehicles. Altering your driving style is one of the best ways to ensure a sustainable reduction in running costs. The results would also be very different should the Opel Combo-e be allowed to be recharged via an AC charging point overnight. These yield lower per kWh costs, and you can handily save almost 10% off each recharge.
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